Tony Innaimo is, according to his best friend and colleague Michael Hogan, a very humble man.
It was no surprise, then, that when Big Rigs gave him a call to talk about celebrating 30 years in business, he was reluctant to take the credit for his transport company’s success.
“I can’t believe it’s been 30 years – it really snuck up on me!” he said.
“It’s an honour to still be in the industry after all this time.
“I think the main reason for our success is having such great people in the business – I’ve been very lucky.”
Tony started out with one truck, an S-Line International, back in 1994.
Since then, he has grown his fleet to over 40 prime movers, with 20 staff on board plus many more subcontractors.
“When I started out as an owner-driver I was doing Woolworths deliveries for Ron Finemore Transport,” he said.
“That finished up in about ‘99, which forced me to go out on the highway for a while.
“Then I got the opportunity to take over a depot in Queanbeyan. I bought a second truck then and it went from there!”
Tony Innaimo Transport now has depots in Yass, Wagga Wagga, Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra.
“We’ve got a decent little show going now,” he laughed.
Tony admits there have been some tough times over the years, but he persevered.
“Of course everything has its challenges, but if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
“If there were no problems you’d probably get a bit bored, I reckon!”
One thing he has noticed, though, is how much harder it is to get drivers now than it was when he started.
“There’s no incentive to become a driver these days, apart from good money,” he said.
“There aren’t too many other industries where you make a small mistake – I’m not talking about something dangerous, but something that’s not going to hurt anyone – and you get a $500 fine.
“I think the authorities need to sit down with the drivers and understand what’s going on, you can’t just have rules because it looks good to the politicians.”
Despite these frustrations, Tony does his best to create a positive work environment for his staff.
“I know how hard it is to be away from home, so I try not to have the drivers working weekends,” he said.
“The odd one could be running late, but most of our blokes are home on the Friday night and not out again until Monday morning.
“Everyone’s got families, so I try to give them that family time.”
He said having his own family and friends involved in the business has made it a more enjoyable place for him to work.
“My CEO Mike Hogan, I think we were 12 years old when we first met and he’s been with the business 15 years now.
“My sister has worked with us for 20 years, and my mother and father worked in the business before Covid too.
“If it wasn’t for my parents’ support in buying my first truck and teaching me to work hard from day dot, I wouldn’t be in this position.”
He is also grateful to all the customers who have supported his business over the years.
“I have some customers that have been with me for 10, 15 years.
“They’ve all grown over the years too, along with my business.
“There have been a lot of friendships and a lot of happy memories, that make it all worth doing what we do.”